Seaweed
by xxbeyondxbirthdayxx
Summary: Near's entertaining the lie, keeping Matt working for him, with the belief that Mello's dead. Mello, shadow of himself, thinking that Matt's dead too, suddenly takes revenge on Near just to numb the pain... and finds Matt in a condition he didn't expect.
1. Chapter 1

_**Note:** I've started this quite some time ago, and decided to get it finished lately in my 'let's finish every incomplete story' frenzy.  
_  
_This started with a promise to **foreverunloved** to write a fic for her around any word she would choose so she wouldn't leave FB, and she gave me 'seaweed'. It took me almost 10 000 words to be able to insert the word in the fic XD_  
_And I used it as the title because really, I couldn't come up with anything else._

Truth is, the sole purpose of this fic was Matt's condition and a lemon related to that (that you'll get later) so I'm quite scared that I needed that many chapters when what I had in mind was what's in the last one only. But oh well... XD  
It was supposed to be a oneshot but it's too long for that I guess, so here's the prologue. Thus the fact it's not really long.  
The rest is already written so you'll get a chapter per day until it's over :)

* * *

It did hurt. Like a bitch. Matt didn't even know if he was still alive or not. You don't know what it's like to be dead after all, so you wouldn't know when you are.

The gunshots had stopped, but he was afraid to move. _Feels quite like being still alive...  
_His goggles had slipped so he thought safe to open the one eye that was still shielded. He cracked it open but the lens was covered in blood. This eye couldn't see anything.  
Matt kept the unshielded eye closed. He could feel the blood still running from his scalp, flooding along his forehead and nose side. Better not get blood into this other eye... and they would see that he was still alive, and would probably finish him. _Oh fuck, it really hurts like a son of a bitch... what do I do now?_

Matt woke up again. If he had forgotten that he was still lying against his car, the pain reminded it to him quickly. He could barely see anything, but his eyes had opened instinctively before he could even think that it wasn't safe to do so. _No final bullet?  
_His sight adjusted as much as it could, the surroundings blurry, and there was no one around. The men had gone. No, actually, there were people around. But not the ones that shot him. _Lidner's bitches..._ Matt spotted an ambulance, and ER guys coming his way. He wiped the blood from his uncovered eye but it had dried. _How long have I been out?_

The pain was immense, but Matt knew that no vital organ had been touched, he'd be dead already if that was the case. Damn, Mello had been right, better be cautious... the bulletproof vest he had forced Matt to wear had saved the redhead's life. _Mello? Fuck, I hope you made it out better than I did... _  
Matt could feel his scalp burn. A bullet had racked the skin. _Lucky to be so short, huh... probably lost some hair in the process... that's the important thing to have in mind right now, how my hair looks like..._

Matt chuckled, and regretted it. His chest couldn't take the jolts, and more pain shot through him. He thought he would pass out again, but the guys in white were on him, and they took him away, urging him into talking to keep him awake.  
_My car... will they take care of it?  
_It all went dark again when the pain was too much to take, as the ambulance drove at breakneck speed through the traffic, the bumps of the dampers and the hard turns getting to his body like a hundred knives.

* * *

Mello's chest constricted at the sight of the news. He was mortified, he had never meant things to go that way. One more reason to hate Lidner. The woman had fucked up really badly this time. Not that it was surprising, she wasn't as smart as she wanted to make believe.

First, she had rooted for Near, thinking that being on the 'good' side would bring her to the top faster than by working with Mello. Second, she had tried to seduce Near to secure her position. Near was as asexual as a Lego brick, and damn, did the woman know of the word 'paedophilia'?

Then she had thought that Mello wouldn't have the guts to shoot her if she tried anything funny, the day she had to lead him to the SPK headquarters. Walking around half naked when she realised he was in her bathroom wouldn't save her ass. If anything, Mello wanted to shoot her arrogance down her throat for thinking that he could get distracted from the case by a pair of boobs. Who did she think he was?  
But he didn't have to shoot her after all, she finally showed him the way to Near, when she realised he wasn't kidding to the slightest. It wasn't all of a sudden very appealing to her to risk having her brain splash out the tiles of her pretty bathroom, was it?

And damn, she had been stupid enough to hand Takada out to him...

_Who am I fooling right now? It's all my fault..._

His chest constricted again, but this time it wasn't because of the emotional pain. He knew what it was.  
_In the end, I wasn't that smart after all...  
_Mello heard a crash, shards of the window behind falling around him. There were cries and sobs, and then nothing.A painful jerk, and his eyes opened._  
_There were flames all around, the heat was unbearable. A strong feeling of deja-vu wrought Mello's guts as he tried to understand what was happening. _Is that hell?_

His left arm was numb, and he could hardly breathe. It wasn't the smoke only, his lungs seemed to refuse to fill. Opening the driver's door, he burnt his hand on the handle and fell to the ground. Forcing himself to crawl with only one arm responding to his brain, he progressed slowly, feeling the flames lick at his body, but he was unable to stand up, let alone walk.  
_Shit... fuck... what's that mess? Have to get outta here..._

It seemed to Mello like hours of raking his only valid elbow on the ground. The pain of his skin burning took over any other feeling and he tried to hurry, but it was still too slow, and he could feel life escape him little by little._  
_Suddenly a wave of fresh air washed over him, and Mello collapsed. Body out of the fire, mission complete, brain black out.


	2. Chapter 2

_Happy birthday to me..._

Mello took a long shot from the bottle he had in hand, his throat numb to the burning after months, years of practice.  
He had long cut the bad habit, cash didn't really allow it lately, but today was an exception. There wasn't much to celebrate than one more year in solitude. But the flashing ad of that new game being released these days, on the giant screen of Times Square, had brought back a memory he'd have preferred to keep buried where it was. It was that viciously painful souvenir that had walked his feet into the cheap 24/7 tiny store just under his apartment, although he had resisted all the way from Times Square to the street he lived in. But today, he obviously wouldn't be able to stay away from the liquor.

There was at least one criteria he wouldn't derogate to, so as there was no vodka that could actually be called vodka, he was now getting shitfaced on cheap whiskey. It didn't even have a taste other than the one of a future much awaited drunken state. Oblivion, at least for a few hours. Maybe the pain would be gone then. Maybe _he_would be gone then.

Why he hadn't died by Takada's hand, he hadn't been sure at first, but Near's experiments had set light on the fact that you indeed have to have the face of the person you want to kill in mind while writing their name in the Death Note. And Mello's tortuous scar was one hard thing to remember in detail. Imagining it wasn't obviously enough, you had to picture the various lines and scrunches and everything perfectly.  
Mello did have a heart attack, but it hadn't killed him in the end. Not that he didn't regret it. It would have been so much easier since he was too much of a coward to kill himself now.

Mello wasn't exactly living carefully, crossing the street only when allowed by the 'walk' signal or avoiding the creepiest areas of the city. He actually bordered on suicidal by his everyday choices. But death really didn't seem to want him, no matter how stupid he acted.

Depositing the empty bottle on the coffee table in front of him, a bit too loudly for his already noise-sensitive brain, Mello put the tears running on his cheeks on account of the headache his state would induce. But even drunk, he wouldn't fool himself so easily. He had no headache, and this fucking pain was even worse now that he couldn't reason himself anymore, now that his dark matter was somehow sizzled by alcohol.  
_Fuck. And I feel sick..._

He only had time to stagger to the bathroom that his stomach decided it was time to evacuate the intrusive liquid.  
Mello even mentally noted how long he knelt there, on the tiled floor, unable to stand up after throwing up all he could and more. The clock just seemed to tick in rhythm with his breathing, and his eyes stared at every minute passing by. This clock was so ugly.

It took exactly one hour and sixteen minutes for Mello to leave the cold ceramic. The taste on his tongue was awful.  
Brushing his teeth, he looked at himself in the mirror.  
_Why am I still alive?_

His hair was self cut, just like he had always done. Shortening the bangs when it came too much into his eyes, or simply cutting the end of a ponytail when the back was too long and he got tired of detangling it. It wasn't really well done, but who cared?  
He rinsed his mouth.  
_It was Matt who used to..._

The sobs shook him like they had never done. He hadn't allowed himself to cry, or even think about the past. He knew he couldn't take it. But he obviously would have to now, because the feelings wouldn't leave.  
Regret, guilt, shame... He didn't understand why they had shot Matt, it wasn't supposed to happen like this.  
_Damn, Matt had said it would be ok! It was always ok when he said it!  
_And he had done his best to protect Matt!  
_He had the fast car, but they still could corner him, he had the bulletproof vest, but still they managed to shoot a non protected area of his body... and Lidner, why order her men to shoot at sight?_

Mello was aware of the fact that it wouldn't bring his best friend back. But all he could think about right now was that he should have dwelt on this long ago, when Lidner was still easy to locate. He didn't need to know if he was right to think that she had gotten Matt shot on purpose or not, all he knew was that it gave him something to focus on other than pain.  
Psychology classes had taught him well enough that as long as your mind is busy with revenge, it won't feel the pain. It would be back after that, but right now Mello needed to kill the pain. And Lidner.

* * *

It was surprisingly easy to slide back into his Mafia boss attire, get all his connections and means back. Ross hadn't forgotten, and neither did the rest of the men in the hideout, where Mello went once located.  
But this time he wouldn't cope with the old boss. One bullet and _he_was the boss. No argument, no retaliation, no counter attack. Just fear, because the sick bastard was back, more cruel than before.

First things first, he had his men set on Lidner's tracks.  
Five months later, he was still clueless. Eight months, and he felt like he hadn't even left the departure line. Were they all dead after all? _Damn, that would be quite the luck to be the only one alive when I so want to be dead...  
_But L, the new L, was still in action as the greatest detective in the world, so it was unlikely that Near was dead. No one else could be hiding behind the letter.

It was early September, and the weather getting colder reminded Mello of the Indian Summer in California, that Matt liked so much.  
_I'm not doing this much longer. It's leading nowhere... and revenge, what for? It won't bring him back... I won't make it to my next birthday, it's useless..._

* * *

It seemed quite strange to him to see Near, Lidner, and some other men whose faces he knew, on those pictures that one of his men brought back at the end of October. Mello had been right to think that the bitch was still guarding the sheep. The pictures were a bit blurry, and the faces far in the distance, the man had only been able to catch them on film as they exited cars to enter a building, and the bodyguards around had made it quite difficult since they were always in the way.  
It wasn't surprising that they had been hard to find, even with the means he had, L needed protection and privacy after all. But many details made it look like they were hiding from him personally, specifically erasing their tracks and shielding themselves from the Mafia.

But it was the last of Mello's concerns. He wouldn't analyse the albino brat, he wasn't trying to beat him this time. Near wasn't even his target, even if killing him would be an added bonus, just because if he hadn't hired Lidner in the first place, maybe...  
Mello shook his head, swallowing the lump in his throat. _No time for crying, no time..._

The blond perfectly knew that if Near was located, Near _knew_ he was located. And who had located him as well.  
It was only a matter of hours now, the hours it would take to travel to L's headquarters. _Winchester, really?_  
Mello huffed at the thought that Near could have been nostalgic. Not that he would concede any possible feeling to the sheep.  
It still was some kind of relief to discover that Near hadn't established his office in the old orphanage. Mello didn't want to see the building, he didn't want the memories associated with it back. He just wanted to shoot his target at sight, then himself.  
But, and part of him expected it, the place that once was Near's headquarters was empty by the time he got there.

Now that was weird. Near was protected enough to survive WWIII so why runaway?  
_Unless he has something to hide..._  
As much as Mello's ego was infatuated with the desire of Near being afraid of him, the blond knew it wasn't that. He would be proud to believe that Near knew he didn't stand a chance, but ego or not, Mello was smart enough not to get worked up with that kind of antics.  
But curiosity was slowly getting the best of him, along with the feeling of revenge growing along with Near's condescending tone coming back to Mello's mind.  
Seething, the blond buried himself in building the plan that would be Near's demise. And Lidner. She was the reason why he had began all of this, after all, even if, useless to lie to himself, it was all about beating Near again...

* * *

Mello hadn't kept the promise he had made to himself, and was still alive after December 13th was long gone.  
He had it. He had _the _ plan that would let him inside of Near's den.  
He had tried _everything_. From infiltrating one of his men inside of Near's team to taking a chance head-on at getting to the bastard as he followed his every move, nothing had worked. Near was acting rather differently than he used to and it was telling Mello that he had to reach him at all costs. Near couldn't be playing just for the sake of fooling Mello, L didn't have time for that, and even if Near was acting strange lately, he wasn't one for mind games. He liked spitting the truth at your face with fake detachment too much.

The plan was easy, really. Well, easy to come up with at least. As protected as he was, Near and his underlings needed to fulfil their basic needs. Taking the place of one of the delivery men was out of the question, they weren't let in. No one was. There was a first airlock where things entered, brought by a first team, and those could never go further than this area. A second wave of carriers would bring everything inside a second airlock once the first men were surely gone and the doors secured. There, a third group of men would check the delivery only once the second bunch was outside and accesses closed. Everything was opened, tested, certified safe, and only then could it be stashed away inside the headquarters.  
Basically, Mello had to reach area two. From there, weapons would talk. That wasn't the most amazing plan in the world, but after checking if there was a way to dig under the building, or arrive by the roof, or enter there at gunpoint, the blond had to resolve to something he had inwardly qualified as 'cheap'.

Near wouldn't have him shot at sight. If the brat had wanted him dead, he would have been able to send him to the grave long ago, Mello wouldn't even have opposed at some point.  
But that didn't mean he'd let him in. The numerous trials had at least cleared one point: Near never gave the order to kill, but they had the right to hurt, and Mello took enough bullets to acknowledge that. Actually, Mello suspected that Near didn't know that he had planned to kill him and Lidner, otherwise things would be different and the snipers would have shot him straight away.  
Near probably thought it was something like when Mello had wanted to retrieve his picture, nothing more. Except this time he didn't seem inclined to meet him.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Note: **I forgot to say, but this fic is 5 chapters long ^^  
Thank you for your wonderful reviews!_

* * *

The damn cardboard box was small. Mello was pushing with hands, knees and feet as much as he could against the sides so his body wouldn't move too much when the box did. His own bodyweight could get it upside down and it would be really uncomfortable to stay hours feet over head. It would also be strange that the content, that was supposed to fit the box perfectly, moved.  
_Don't let the box give in, please...  
_But Mello wasn't so sure that asking God for help when this was all aimed to kill someone was right, actually. For once, he just put his faith aside. He'd deal with this once in hell. It wouldn't be long after all, before he had to account for what he was doing.  
_  
_He was supposed to be flour. A hundred pounds of white flour. This was the closest he had found to his own bodyweight, and the day he went for this item delivery, while building his plan, he thanked whoever made Near so keen on pancakes for breakfast.  
He stopped chocolate and most foods for two weeks to lose the four pounds that separated him from the perfect weight for this plan. The total content of every delivery was weighted in charge, and he couldn't risk the exceeding pounds to give him away.  
Skinnier than ever, he fitted in the flour box with no problems, even if the position wasn't really comfortable, folded as he was. But entering the storage room of the flour factory was the easy part. One of his men left once he was in the box, taking the flour with him so no one would wonder why there were packages out of the boxes ready for delivery and closing all doors like if nothing happened.  
The Mafia could always use it to cut the dope, after all, or they could as well make giant cakes if they wanted, he wouldn't be there to witness that anyway, for all he cared.

The wait was a bit of a torture, since the freight wouldn't be charged before 7am, and Mello had to be in the box before 5am, the time when employees would begin to arrive on-site.  
If he had thought that waiting writhed like that was bad, that was without counting the fact that no one was careful not to hurt _flour _when loading the truck. He was lucky enough not to land head down.

Counting how many times he heard the safe areas' doors open and lock, Mello estimated that he was now in area two.  
Two voices. There were only two men checking the delivery. They were supposed to be three but he wouldn't complain. He heard the distinct noise of the adhesive tape being removed from the box he was in, and shot the first face he saw.  
While the first man fell on the floor, dead, Mello exited the box with the second one in his sight. He felt like a Jack-in-a-box. Surprise...  
Ordering him to unlock the door leading to the headquarters, Mello got rid of him before getting in.

Two silenced shots later and he was crossing the corridors, still unharmed.  
But although the place was safely guarded, Mello was now inside.  
The actual ground gathered the domestic staff, that he avoided silently, knowing that, even if he had been unable to get a full map of the building, the SPK, or whatever Near was calling his team now that Kira had been defeated, was under his feet.

No doubt that he was followed by the cameras, and that Near knew he was there.  
Mello was walking without really knowing where he was going. All he knew was that the place wasn't that big. It was only a house, and looking from the outside, you'd never guess that no normal family was living here. Not that there were much neighbourhood to witness anything anyway.  
The headquarters were actually in the basement, that had been extended for the purpose, and equipped with the latest technology.  
There didn't seem to be any lower ground under that so it wouldn't be long before he got to Near. Or at least he hoped so, because this place reminded him of the one that he had blown years ago, earning his facial scar.

Mello smirked when the familiar voice cracked through a loudspeaker suddenly.  
"Mello, welcome."  
Looking around the corridor, the blond spotted the camera and faced it.  
"Always welcome, huh?"  
"What do you want, Mello?" The tone was neuter, as usual. Although Near most certainly knew that there were four dead bodies lying upstairs, he seemed unphased.

No need to confess why he was here for, it wouldn't lead him anywhere, Mello thought.  
"I was curious to see why you're doing so much for me to stay away from you." It was partly true, after all.  
"Come in."  
_Would it be that easy?_

A thick metal door slid open.  
Mello was actually standing just right next to Near's office.  
Stepping in, Mello's eyes surveyed the room. It looked familiar.  
It was almost the same configuration as when the blond had gotten Lidner to lead him to the SPK's headquarters. Even the people working for Near were the same: Gevanni, the two other guys he didn't remember the name of. Lidner wasn't there. Fuck.

No one was pointing a gun at him, but Mello decided to keep his own in hand.  
"Mello, I suspect that you are counting on a naivety that I don't have for me to believe that you came here without any bad intention."  
"Smart ass, as always..." Mello chuckled.  
"I also wonder what made you think that, knowing you're inside, I wouldn't make sure that whatever you think that I am trying to hide from you is safely kept away from you."  
"So you admit that you're hiding something?" Mello smirked to the boy sat on the floor. Near was still looking like a child, time didn't seem to have a hold over him, or his childish ways.  
"I never made such a statement, I was just showing you that your reasoning is wrong."  
"Well then, why let me in when you could have shot me months ago?"  
"Because I have no interest in doing so, you're already doing a great job at leading yourself to your death." Near replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Near wasn't one for sarcasm, and Mello, although keeping a straight face, was surprised.  
_Now that is new, for sure..._  
"You know the French colloquial 'rouler dans la farine'*, is it what you're trying to do right now, Mello?"  
"Damn, I hope you're not proud of this one." Mello snorted. Near was really annoying, more than he used to be, actually, "Did you let me in so you could use your poor sense of humour on me?"  
"I thought that you would want to see by yourself that I am not hiding anything from you, and that you could understand once and for all that I can't be hiding anything from you for the simple reason that I don't care about you, Mello."

Surprisingly, Mello didn't feel any anger after hearing that. He was just all the more curious to understand why Near was acting different, and trying to hurt him when he never bothered before. Not so openly at least.  
"I think that your tour ends here Mello." A door slid open and a tall blond woman appeared. The expression on her face was no different, Mello thought, she still had that self contented smile on.  
She nodded to Near, leaving Mello cut to the quick. "I suggest that you let Halle walk you to the exit and that you leave and never come back. Not that we'd still be here anyway."

There seemed to be some kind of agreement between Near and Lidner that had Mello wonder if she had been away hiding whatever Near wanted to hide. He didn't want to give up on that idea, everything was leading him to firmly believe it.

But the occasion of being alone with the slut was tempting. That's what he was here for, seeing her brain splatter the walls, after all. Complying, Mello exited the room, following Lidner. Too bad he wouldn't be able to kill Near. But well, maybe the world needed him, after all... so it wouldn't be so smart to kill him. Even him could acknowledge that.

Lidner didn't take the same way Mello had taken to enter. They crossed various doors and corridors until they reached an elevator.  
Mello quickly studied the panel of keys inside of the cabin. Three for only two floors...

But once the door of the elevator closed on them, the smallness of the cube concentrated a smell on Lidner's clothes, quickly reaching Mello's nose.  
The woman smelled it at the same time than Mello, and as he turned to her, her alarmed face, realising the mistake she had just made, gave her away.  
Mello's mind went, in exactly four seconds, to being reminded of Matt's cigarette smell and mentally sending to hell whoever had smoked the same cigarettes' brand near Lidner, reminding him the pain of losing the redhead, to understanding that the bitch's face could only mean one thing.

The pain was all different now, and soon Lidner was feeling it too, on a whole different level, as the air was knocked out of her lungs when Mello threw her against the cubicle's wall violently.  
"WHERE IS HE?" Mello snarled, twisting her arm, making her cry in pain.  
Halle knew better than deny. But that didn't mean she would give in so easily.  
"He doesn't want to see you." There, if Mello still wanted to see Matt after that...  
"Once again, where is he?" Mello's eyes were something she had never seen in him. She cringed, and cursed him the harder she could inwardly. She had always had strange feelings for the man, but right now, all she could see was what she had never had from him, and would never have.

She was ten years older than him, and since she had always had all the men she wanted, she thought it would be no different with Mello. He was young, beautiful, and the fact that he was seventeen when they first met didn't stop her. But she had soon to face the fact that she did little effect to him.

Now, she was getting the full extent of her inability to attract Mello. Or Matt for the matter. Yes, she had tried. Mello's eyes right now were telling all the love he had for the redhead, all the pain, all the sorrow that had built during the years after one believed that the other was dead. And she wanted to break it to pieces.  
"You can kill me, I won't give you a single hint about the location of your precious boyfriend." she hissed as she felt her wrist crack.  
_Boyfriend?_

Too happy to oblige, Mello whacked her, and as she touched the ground with the full force of the blow, he lodged a bullet into her skull. But what with the sudden idea that Matt was Mello's boyfriend? That bitch was on red alert for sure...

Pushing Lidner's words aside, Mello pushed the upper key, the one that led neither to the basement nor to the exit.  
The elevator stopped, and a distinct beep resounded two times before the small space suddenly began moving. But after a quick lift and a stop, it wasn't moving vertically anymore. It was sliding horizontally.  
Twenty seconds, and the cubicle finally came to a stop, the door sliding open.

Mello pushed the emergency button in order to have the elevator stay here, open. The light casting from the cubicle was barely enough for Mello to distinguish anything, the corridor was dark as hell.  
He went forward anyway, trying to spot a switch or something, until he realised that lights went on along with his presence, and went off in his back once he was at a certain distance.  
The same metal sliding door as Near's office appeared at the end of the corridor. Mello went back on his tracks to frisk Halle. There, keys, passes, there was probably something that would open that damn door.  
He ran back to the door and got lucky with the second pass.

There wasn't much chance that Near would be going away from here soon, contrary to what he had said, Mello thought. The setup of the place was way too sophisticated for it to be temporary headquarters.  
Near had probably played him for quite some time, after all. Going from places to places. But this was obviously the real thing. Where he hid the one thing Mello should not know about: Matt.

Mello's heart began to beat a lot faster than it already did. It became almost painful, suffocating him. Matt was alive. He'd known it for a few minutes now, but it only hit him now. Did Matt really not want to see him?  
Mad with the pain, Mello began to cry. He began to yell Matt's name. He began to run, hammering on the walls.

He suddenly reached a small hall. It all looked like a real apartment, just that it was underground.  
There were several doors, and he was only a glass door away from that small hall, still in the long corridor.  
None of the passes worked to open that transparent door. Shooting it didn't work either. Bulletproof glass.

The click of a doorknob being used resounded. Mello hesitated. His first reaction was to get away not to be shot, but the glass was bulletproof, so he just stood there, staring.

His heart fell to his feet when one of the doors opened and Matt appeared.

* * *

_**Note:**__ * 'rouler dans la farine' = 'to roll someone in flour', means to con, to mislead, to lead up the garden path._


	4. Chapter 4

_**Note:**Almost the end, this chapter is not the best but it was hard to balance raging emotions with the fact that they fall into a natural understanding like they had before, thus don't need to talk that much even after finding each other. And the fact that the shock leaves them quite speechless until they can digest what's happening. It's like retaining things before they unleash, and they will in next chapter, believe me ^^_

_**carottal:** Thank you for your reviews! I can't reply personally because you don't have an account, but I wanted to point out that I'm French, that's why the French in here is correct ;) (just so you know I have no merit XD)_  
_I'll reply to others with an account in private as soon as possible, just want to finish writing Lionheart first then I'll have time before I go back to TSFMS :)_

* * *

It was almost too much to take at once, learning that Matt was alive, then finding him and... damn! A wheelchair!  
_MATT!_

Mello was shocked by Matt's state, and at the same time, he couldn't care less, because Matt was alive. Just alive, and he could have had no arms, no legs or whatever anymore, he was there, in front of him.  
_  
_The redhead was crying as well, and the glass door opened with a simple brush of his thumb over a numeric pad.  
_Mello..._

The blond was frozen at his place. He stared at Matt, the feelings rushing in him giving him the answer to the fact that Lidner had believed they were lovers. And he probably wanted it that way after all...

"Mello..." Matt whispered, "Mello just don't stand there, I'd jump to hug you if I could but as you can see, I kind of find it difficult to do right now..."  
Matt was trying to joke, himself just didn't care about anything else than the blond standing in front of him. The pain, the despair, all was forgotten, just by Mello's sole presence. Even the fact that his mind, as well as Mello's, was processing the lies he'd been fed with for years, right now it hardly mattered.

Mello laughed through his tears and closed the distance between him and Matt. Awkwardly, he encircled the redhead's shoulders, trying to hold him as close as the position allowed him to. Matt reached for his middle, snaking his arms and tightening them around Mello's waist as much as he could.  
Both felt high. The dark hours of their past without each other was gone, blown away, and even if none of them dared to cross the line they so wanted to cross, both hoped that the other would.

A beep resounded from inside the room Matt had come from.  
"Come in." he simply said to Mello, letting go of him to turn around with his wheelchair, preceding him inside.  
Matt quickly rolled to an alignment of computers. One of the screens was showing Gevanni on video conference.

Another screen was showing the entrance where Mello had arrived from. Matt had seen him from the moment the blond was standing in front of the bulletproof glass. He hadn't been able to breathe at first, it raised so many questions, so much anger, but he had quickly made it outside to meet Mello, for once thanking his wheelchair, because he wouldn't have been able to walk anyway, if he still could have used his legs. Damn, he was about to faint...

"What's up Gevanni?" Matt asked casually to the man that was obviously waiting. The redhead put a blank mask on. Mello knew that one too well. When Matt couldn't handle his emotions, he would just go blank during the time he would need to sort his mind out.  
"You perfectly know what's up. Near wants to see you and Mello. Could Mello be kind enough to send the elevator back with Halle's body so we can take care of that and get the internal access back?"

This was totally Matt. Mello was even surprised that Near had allowed that there would only be one access inside to Matt's part of the building. Somehow, it reminded him of when they used to build pillows and blankets fortresses in their dorm at the orphanage when they were around ten, and how Matt would secure any access like a paranoid.

Now it was obvious that Matt was in charge of all computing and technological aspects of Near's activities, but the redhead seemed to live here like a recluse. If Near wanted to hide him, it wasn't surprising, but it implied that he had always known that Mello would come here, which was very unlikely. Mello deducted that it was all Matt's will to be here, separated from the rest of the crew. Or that Near didn't want him around, independently from Mello's hypothetical presence.

Matt glanced at Mello when the man on the screen mentioned Lidner's death, but all that the blond could see was some kind of satisfaction, if not relief.  
"I don't think so Gevanni. I want to talk to Near."  
"Are you sure?" the black haired man wondered why Matt wanted to talk to Near so suddenly, knowing that Matt had not spoken with him directly for months. Gevanni or Halle always made the link between the two.

"He won't talk to me, like usual..." Matt whispered for himself. Mello raised an eyebrow. Fact was, several minutes had passed and Near still hadn't connected with Matt or taken Gevanni's place.  
"You mean he doesn't talk to you? Why are you here Matt? Why did you stay here?" Mello was beginning to feel impatient. He wanted answers. Why none of them knew that the other was alive, why Near had obviously done his best to prevent them from finding each other, why Halle resented the two so much? Everything was way beyond jealousy or simple interest in Matt's skills.  
Softly, he squeezed Matt's shoulder, imperceptibly coming closer than he already was. Matt wanted to touch this hand on him, but he refrained. Where was the line?

He looked up at Mello. In his eyes, he saw the same anger, the same frustration that inhabited them when they were still at Wammy's, when Mello came back from the SPK headquarters the day he had retrieved his picture, and understood that Near was using him as a tool... always the same emotions that he hated to see, because he could feel them too. Because when Mello was in that state, Matt felt like the little boy he knew, the joyful one, the funny one that would always cheer Matt up or play pranks with him, died a little more each time.

Seething, Matt started to speak. Near might not want to talk to him, but he could hear him.  
"Near I know you're there, so listen very carefully. Let me go without trying anything funny toward me or Mello, or I'll blow your place up."

Suddenly, Near appeared at Gevanni's place.  
"Matt, I'm perfectly aware that your sense of insecurity had you wire the whole place with explosives, but I had them removed, so this is an inadmissible threat and..." The tone was condescending, and Matt could feel the grip on his shoulder tighten. Himself wanted to slap the brat to death at that moment.  
Near always acted like he was above everything, everyone, but truth was, and Matt knew it, he had had time to realise that being in Near's close circle, that without the assistance he dearly paid for, Near was nothing. A brain, yes, but one that was pretentious enough to underestimate and use others.  
"You removed the decoys for sure." Matt chuckled.  
There was a blank. Mello exchanged a smirk with the redhead. Touché.

Near had executed the most cruel of plans after Takada's abduction. Gevanni had driven Matt to Mello's incineration. Matt had spread his ashes, he had attended church to find answers because maybe God would help him, because Mello believed in God so strongly, he had cried in front of the candles he had lit numerous times, hoping that Mello was somewhere up there, hearing him say that he loved him, he had fallen sick because of sadness, he had tried to kill himself seven times... The only time Near did talk to him was after the seventh time, when he gave Matt a letter from Mello. It was never from Mello, just from the best handwriting imitator Near could find. The letter said that Mello wanted Matt to live in his memory, if something happened to the blond. He wanted him to go on, to try to be helpful to justice.  
That's why he was here today. Just because he had tried to respect Mello's supposed will.  
He didn't need Near to explain that the letter was fake, this he knew now. But he wanted to know why all the lies...

"Matt, I'm sorry. Mello I'm sorry too." Near's voice was barely audible.  
"You better be... but why? Damn, Near, why?" Mello exploded. Near had always been in the way, always! He'd been unhappy most of his life because of Near, and no matter how much he thought of it, no explanation could come to his mind for what Near had done. It was just beyond understanding. It was _inhuman_.

"Because I didn't want to be the unhappiest person in the world."  
The three stayed silent. Neither Matt nor Mello had words to answer that. It implied so much cruelty, so much despair from Near, they just couldn't process it now.  
Near cut the connexion. Soon, Gevanni appeared again: "Near will let you go, just let us know when you're ready."  
"I'm ready." Matt turned on his wheels and reached the door that led to the glass entry.  
Mello's eyes questioned him silently. "Starting all new." Matt replied with a smile.

When they reached the elevator, Matt barely looked at the body lying on the ground, pooling in blood.  
"I'll have the decency not to spit on her dead body but really, I'd enjoy it." he said bitterly, "Do you think that someone can be utterly bad? I mean, so bad that they can play with people's pain, and even induce it on purpose?"  
"I don't know Matt... I'd like to believe that there's good in each of us, because that's what I've been taught during catechism, but I don't know..."  
Mello pushed Halle's body with a foot, less inclined than Matt to respect the Dead.  
They stayed silent during all the time it took for the elevator to reach the exit. It was shocking, and yet, both felt pity for Near, Halle... even if resentment was stronger, they both knew that being together again was enough to lighten their heart.

They reached the closest main road, slowly. None of them wanted to admit it, but they didn't feel comfortable calling a taxi in front of the building. When it was out of sight, Mello asked for one on his smartphone. It wasn't long until they arrived at the blond's apartment.  
There was no elevator in that crappy building Mello lived in. He felt extremely awkward to carry Matt bride style from the hall of the complex to his couch. He then retrieved Matt's wheelchair, and proceeded to order food and drinks.

Soon, they fell in what used to be their comfort zone, the talk was easy, eye contact didn't look weird, they were teenagers again. They covered their life after Takada's abduction, they remembered the old times at the orphanage, they laughed at the pranks they used to do, but soon, it led to thinking about Near, since he was the one suffering from those pranks most of the time.

"Do you feel sad for him?" Matt asked after a lull in the conversation, "I mean, he was so alone that he lied to us, even if the lie was terrible, do you feel sorry for him?"  
"No, it's asking for too much right now... I'm not saying I don't pity him, but it's more the disdainful pity that I feel. He wanted to be L, he got it. He shouldn't have taken the spot if he wasn't ready to live the life that goes with it. I've understood that after Kira was caught, I would never have been the new L, I had finally come to the conclusion that it wasn't worth it, I wanted to live, really. But then you were dead... Maybe someday I can try to understand, but right now I need to catch back with what he has taken from me, a part of my life, and you, most of all."

Matt blushed lightly.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Note:** AAAAARGGGG! Sorry for being late with the last chapter! The Download Manager wouldn't let me upload anything! I tried hell knows how many ways to get this chapter online but nothing would work. It happens from time to time so it's a recurring problem but usually I just wait and post when I can (well, I obviously did the same this time...) but when I promised a daily update it's a bit more annoying._  
_Anyway, here is the ending of Seaweed!_

Foreverunloved I hope you like it! I know my seaweed interpretation is lame XD

And to think that the sole purpose of this fic was because I wanted to write some wheelchair sex... I'm not even satisfied with what I done, it took too much time to get there and then I wasn't in the right mood anymore...

* * *

Looks were exchanged, more and more often. Matt and Mello were making small talk, like if both of them were scared to slip toward what burnt their lips. They were over with everything that needed an explanation, they were now trying to decide what to do next.  
Matt had left everything behind, he didn't even take clothes, and it was obvious that more than daily belongings, they needed to move from that poor excuse of a flat to one with an elevator, and in a less suspect neighbourhood.  
It was surprisingly easy to plan for the future, as immediate as it was. Maybe wanting it that hard just made everything possible...

* * *

The house was a pretty one level surrounded by a small garden. They had opted for that one so they didn't even have to worry about an elevator anymore, and the ad stated that it had been designed for the previous owner, that was physically disabled, just as Matt. Everything had been thought for a wheelchair to move easily in every room, around any furniture, even the bathroom was equipped for that purpose.  
It was quite small, but it was enough for them. Matt was able to pay for it, after all, his bank account was loaded with everything he had earned working for Near, that he had barely touched over the years. He may have left everything behind, but he had deserved this money so it would be stupid to not to use it and stay at Mello's crappy place. They could have afforded bigger, better, but they just wanted it plain and simple.  
The mood wasn't to splurge, it was only to live, finally live.

It had been empty for months, so there was no delay, no waiting for the previous inhabitants to move out. They just visited, signed, went on a shopping spree, bought clothes for Matt, furniture that would be delivered the next day, groceries, and that was it, life could begin.

Sat at the kitchen counter, Matt in his wheelchair facing him on the other side, Mello was trying to find a radio station that broadcast decent music while Matt sipped his coffee. They had gotten a coffee maker that Matt had insisted to try immediately. Mello had grinned all the way from the store to home at Matt's expression: a child with a new toy. It looked like years ago when Matt would get a new game. Switches, buttons, programs, everything to keep him busy for at least a few minutes. It was good to have some constants still.  
Truth was, Mello would have to read the damn manual to make it work, it was as complicated as trying to get the TV channels registered. Well, not complicated, but even a genius needed an instructions manual in order to manipulate a machine that looked more like a computer than a coffee maker. Except Matt. He could guess his way through any setup, just like that. The TV channels were registered in less than five minutes, and the coffee made in the meanwhile.

They had some basics in their new house, it was a bit weird still, the empty rooms, no bed, no couch. They had moved in today, the shopping experience had been tiring, and all they had to sit was the kitchen stools. Well, Matt had pointed out to Mello that he didn't even need a stool, but he had soon realised that Mello was still uncomfortable with his disablement because he hadn't found it funny at all. He even believed that Mello's attention for the radio was to give himself time to change the subject.

It's only when Mello was finally satisfied with the radio that he looked at Matt and grabbed his own cup, still steaming.  
He set it back on the counter immediately without even taking a gulp.  
Matt, lost in his thoughts, was staring at him, his head resting on his chin.  
Mello stood up, turned around the counter and grabbed Matt's face in his palms, and kissed him.  
He pulled back quickly, still holding Matt, half looking for approval, half scared that he had ruined something.

"Was I that obvious?" Matt chuckled.  
"I'm glad I wasn't mistaken." Mello smiled.  
"Damn blonde, we moved here together, wasn't it enough as a hint?" Matt teased Mello, but he knew that since they had shared a room almost all their life before, it wasn't that much of a hint. Only the look he had set on Mello unconsciously finally caught Mello's attention on what Matt felt for him.

Matt's hands reached for the back of Mello's head, pulling him into another kiss, deeper this time, and with no hesitation.  
The position was awkward, Mello half bent over Matt, both trying to make physical contact but failing to do so.  
Mello's knee came on the side of Matt's thigh, partly sat in the redhead's lap, as he snaked his arms around his shoulders. Hands couldn't get enough surface to touch, to caress.

At some point, Mello's arousal was very obvious.  
"Sorry..." the blond whispered. He didn't even know why he was sorry, just that he didn't know how to go about this, if Matt was uncomfortable, mentally and physically, because Mello was totally straddling him at that moment, if Matt wanted this, if he_ could_, even...

"Don't be... I... I have never thought I'd take that path in the state I'm in so I'm not familiar with this... hell, I'm not familiar with sex at all..." Matt blushed, looking down.  
"You've never...?" Mello asked, dumbfounded.  
"I wasn't the social type, in case you forgot... then I just couldn't... you know... this..." he gestured to the wheelchair, "and I wasn't really in the mood after Kira."  
"I can understand that..." Mello lifted Matt's chin, smiling tenderly at him. For some reason, even if himself wasn't a virgin, the thought of being Matt's first filled him with a feeling that he was finally first in something that really mattered.

"Do you feel something? I mean, can you... does it work?" It was kind of weird to be talking about Matt's junk in that way but it was something useful to know right at that moment.  
"It works perfectly." Matt laughed at Mello's redness. The blond wasn't easy to embarrass but the conversation was awkward enough, he could admit it, "Only my legs are dysfunctional, from up my thighs to my feet, the rest is totally normal. Good news, huh?" Matt glanced at Mello's bulge before looking back at him, smirking.  
Mello didn't reply, he just kept on kissing Matt, tugging on his sweater.  
Matt detangled himself from the garment the best he could with the position he was in, his head not finding the right exit and Mello not giving him much room to proceed.  
"Mello, Mmm...ello" he said between two kisses, "Hey, calm down, I'm not... mmh... going anywhere, you know?".

Mello straightened a bit, looking at Matt.  
"Sorry... I just missed you so much, and I want you so much now..." the blond was almost panting, his thumb caressing Matt's cheek.  
They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before Matt spoke again.

"You know, I kind of feel like a... plant, or something like that. I was stuck where I was, Near watered me with lies so I barely survived but I didn't grow, I was suffocating. Now I still don't have my legs but I'm moving again, I don't even care that I can't use my legs, I want to live, to move on, I would even have given my arms not to go through what I went through without you..."  
"I can't agree with that, I kind of like your arms totally functional..." Mello smirked, Matt chuckled, his hand roaming on Mello's crotch.  
"You'd miss that..." the redhead said playfully, Mello gasping at the sensation and pulling Matt into a passionate kiss.  
"Hell yeah..." he whispered in a horny tone, "And I wouldn't want to have the impression to make love to a seaweed..."  
Matt laughed in the kiss at the mental image.

Matt unzipped Mello's vest and snaked his arm around his waist to pull him closer so he could lick and suck at his nipples. Then, grabbing the back of his head, his lips trailed up to Mello's neck, earlobe and jaw, giving the blond goosebumps.  
Mello stood up and got rid of the rest of his clothes, then proceeded to unzip Matt's pants, freeing his erection. At the sight of the hard member, Mello knelt, unable to resist the urge to take it in his mouth.  
The more Matt looked at Mello's lips, the more he wanted from what they had started.  
"Mello... I want you now... please..." he almost whined, trying to pull the blond upwards.

Mello hesitated a split second, how would they do it? It was awkward and still, very exciting to do it in Matt's wheelchair.  
He climbed on the chair, each one of his thighs lodging along Matt's. It was tight but ok.  
"You... want to ride me?" Matt wasn't particularly expecting Mello to take bottom so he was slightly surprised. Mello could have laid him on the kitchen's tiles, for what he cared... as long as something happened, and soon, he didn't give a damn.  
Mello didn't reply, but his lust-filled eyes told Matt that Mello cared for facts as much as he did: not at all.

Matt began to stroke Mello's hard-on, trying to bend to take it in his mouth. Mello obliged, straightening enough so Matt could do it.  
The redhead only stopped to coat his fingers with saliva before resuming his ministrations. Mello braced himself for what was coming, but Matt was extremely gentle, and Mello, that wasn't used to bottom but had once or twice, realised it didn't have to be painful. Maybe that's why making love and fucking are two different things, he thought.

Slowly, Matt prepared Mello, taking time, being careful for every noise the blond made.  
"I'm ready..." Mello said in a breath. Matt let go of his dick and reached for his lips, kissing Mello tenderly as he lowered on Matt's member. The feeling of discomfort was quick to disappear, and Mello began to move.  
They locked eyes, unable to look away, eager to see the feelings dance in each other's pupils. It was all new to them, and yet so natural, there was no awkwardness anymore. Matt's disablement didn't exist, the past didn't exist, they were just retying the bond that Near had tried to cut, cruel enough to do it like he'd have sheared an arm with a rusty blade.

Mello could feel Matt's cock aiming at his sweet spot each time he went down, his own member trapped between them, rubbing on Matt's skin, and it wasn't only the familiar pre-orgasm feeling that was pooling in him, it was so much more, it was pooling in every part of him even, making him feel _electric_.  
He exploded. His seed splashed on Matt's chest, tears began to flood his eyes, feelings were too much to take all at once, because he had never known that, and, more than that, because he had made up his mind that he would never, ever know that.  
Matt wasn't long to follow, and they stayed long in each other's arms, crying, needing to get rid of the overload of emotions of the last two days.

* * *

It was only weeks later that they received a letter from Gevanni, who had respected their will not to be followed, tracked or hacked. A simple letter addressed to their house, since they now lived as a normal couple with their address registered in the White Pages.

Near had killed himself with sleeping pills the day Matt left. He didn't leave a note, didn't take care of the next L, he just left, in silence and alone. The spot was open to Mello and Matt if they wanted it, and all the team was ready to work with them.

The couple declined, and visited Near's grave, one month later. They left a small plant in a pot on the marble.  
No one ever visited Near's grave after that, and although the grave slowly covered with moss and dirt, the plant grew until the roots were too big for the ceramic and it exploded.  
Strangely enough, now the grave can hardly be found under the huge oak tree that stands on what can still hardly be guessed of the marble underneath.


End file.
